I began this internship during the summer following my first year at 91社区 in the Master of Information Studies program. My focus within information studies is towards archives, with a slant towards critical archival studies; I am looking to understand how history is constructed through archives and how this form of recordkeeping fits into building a liberatory future. When I heard about the AIO internship at Jardins de Metis centered around archival research, I was interested because of the opportunities to familiarize myself with how archives work in Quebec, as well as to experience archival research from the perspective of the user.
Under the supervision of the director of Jardins de Metis, the internship was structured as an independent research project where I was to build a database of images of Indigenous (specifically Wolastoqiyik and Mi'kmaq) architecture in the Lower Saint-Lawrence and surrounding areas. This database would be part of a larger initiative at Jardin de Metis towards incorporating Indigenous worldviews and relationships with the landscape into their cultural programming, including collaborations with the Canadian Centre for Architecture. Doing this kind of research in Canada meant consulting a variety of colonial archives and historical ethnographic sources, meaning many of my sources were steeped in racism and prejudice. I had to largely 鈥渞ead against the grain鈥�, understanding that if images were catalogued, the language used was often a reflection of this prejudice. Designing a database for these images coming from a wide variety of sources meant asking what kind of language is most appropriate to describe these images, and how to include the context of their creation in a respectful manner. As an Information Studies student, I found it valuable to think through the impact that my own re-organization of these images would have for those consulting them in the future.
I consulted these archives largely online and reached out to individual archivists for help where appropriate. The highlights of the internship were moments of connection with these individuals and getting excited about archives together. I had the pleasure of working with Heather McNabb, the reference archivist at McCord Museum when I needed to go into the museum鈥檚 reference room to find images that were not accessible online. Heather was extremely helpful in explaining how McCord has catalogued images historically and pulled documents and objects out of archival storage from a myriad of different sources for my reference appointment. One of the challenges I faced was motivating myself to do so much independent work, and just consulting with somebody else in-person was extremely beneficial. I am also very grateful to the archivists I was exchanging emails with who were tolerant of my intermediate French and were able to digitize images from their archives in Rimouski and Gasp茅 for inclusion in our database. By the end of the internship, I felt much more confident in doing this kind of independent research and asking for help and guidance when needed.
I am grateful to have been the recipient of the Judy Patton Hamilton Arts Internship Award, making it possible for me to meaningfully engage with the research project and remain in Montreal for the summer.
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